The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-03-04
A SIXTY-DAYS FAST.
The Champion Food-Abstainer of
the World.
MerIatti to the Blush-Fasters From
Necessity and From Choice.

Some little regret having been Ucca- |
stoned among the physicians who
watched Merlatti that he should not be
DYING at the end of his long fast, and
have given them an opportunity of de-
bermining by dissection the effects of
ifty days total abstinence from all solid
food, it may be worth while to recall
the fact that in other eases an even
,ono.or -tetinence from food has been
recorded, with abundant opportunity
fer examining the condition OF the un-
fortunate victims interior.
The first case of the kind which, so
far as know. is on record, is that Of
i patient Of Dr. Cur1iG, WeEl-known
physician of q generation or so ago.
In August; 1895. a Yorkshirenan Of
property applied to Curli6 far assist
9Hce on account of an obstruction IN
his throat, which threatened soon to
deprive him Of the po,Fgr Of swallow
! inc. When first seen by Currie, the
| patient had already lost the power OF
/ swallowing solids of any kind, and the
! quantity of liquid matter ke was able
| TO swallow was not sufficient for his
nutrition He was already consider
! ABLY reduced. The operation of trach-
otomv naturally suggested itself to Dr..
| Currie as appropriate under these con-
| ditions. But on passing bougie into
the patients guIlet it was found that.
| although there was an obstruction some
| two inches down, the real obstruction
laid seven OF eight inches deep-a hard
tumor having formed in the passage,
whose steady growth threatened to
/ close iC who,g ...,,
On October II the obstruction rather
suddenly increased, insomuch that
from that day the patient could not
swallow more than seven or eight
spoonfuls of broth. Even that quantity
diminished until, on October 80; the
passage was wholly closed, and from
that day the patient took no more food
of anv sort. Bathing in milk and
water and other external applications
of food can hardly be supposed to have
had much Authoritative value, so thai
the subsequent progress Of the en-
forced fast may reasonably be com
pared with the cases of SUcci, Merlatti
Tanner and the rest of the freely-fas t
T ing fraternity.
On October 80, then, after thirteer
DAYS of almost total abstinence from
food, preceded by two months Of yer,
short fare, the unfortunate gentleman
entered on the fasting path, which il
his case could end in bat one way
Before he had begun to suffer from tn
F obstruction to his swallowing lie wa
rather corpulent, weighing 240 pound
(he was tall and fnely-built man). b
October 30his weight had been reduce
to 179 pounds. In the first twenty day
from the period of the sudden increas
of the obstruction, his weight was Tt
duced to 154 pounds. In the next for
days he lost five pounds more. On th
thirty-second day from the time
ceased to swallow he became deliriou
At this time he weighed only 19
3 pounds, having lost upwards of 10
pounds of his original weight. He die
. on the thirty-sixth day from the time
absolute abstinence from food. Thi
with the thirteen days of almost tot;
abstinence. and the preceding tw
months, during which the loss Of nor
than quarter of his weight shove
that he was receiving much less tina
the proper amount of nutrition, may
c REGARDED as a fast considerably moi
taxing than that which Merlatti has 7
Gently completed, and altogether mo
J. remarkable than either Tanners
Succi's fast, seeing that neither of the
n either tasted so completely or so lon
Apart from this, DIR, Currie's patie
was suffering from a disease whi'
must to some degree have taxed h
q physical strength. Thus. whatev
Tanners. Succis and Merlatti's fas
!. NAV have shown, this Yorkshireman
O. enforced fast had taught much mo
effectively ninety-one years ago
For one month from the time Of tot
abstinence from food the unfortuna
man retained a calm and even cheerf
n dcmeanor, Occasionally be express
n a wish that he could swallow, but n
h often nor anxiously. When question
4, n as to his appetite, he always said ii
- he felt no sense of hunger sufficient
-k cause him any uneasiness. Nor was
tn disturbed by thirst. Probably the {
d ternal applications, which natura
~ tended to aIlay thirst, to some degI
ut queted such pains as the sense of hU
ooaa ger might have been expected to pl
duce, for they included strong inf
ions of laudanum. During this NOR
of absolute fasting the temperature a
= = the pulse were natural. His mi
an seemed to retain its full streng
re- "He occupied himself a good deal
ng his private concerns, says the accoI
e. from which | have obtained these p
~ ~ hculars,-the Penny CIyclopedia,
nj '.and, as usual, interested himself
~ public affairs" To husband
.re strength as much as possible, he
"a IA advised 10 be much in bed; but, III
nj the last few days of his life, he dress
iet and redreased daily, AID not ol